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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27980211">Golden</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/alligator_writes/pseuds/alligator_writes'>alligator_writes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Zukka Modern Makeup AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm adding tags as I go, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, MUA!Zuko, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar) Has ADHD, The author is Bisexual, Zuko's Scar (Avatar), dont nerf me, no beta we die like jet, sokka finds out how zuko got the scar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:49:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,786</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27980211</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/alligator_writes/pseuds/alligator_writes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sokka wants to do Zuko's makeup. It leads to an important conversation.</p><p>Rated teen for some content (check tags) and cursing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Zukka Modern Makeup AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049291</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>246</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Golden</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi! I didn't forget about this AU, I promise! Here is the promised thing!</p><p>Partially inspired by @snowandfire's Sephora Zuko.</p><p>If you're new to this AU or to my writing, hello! It's not necessary to read the previous work in order to read this one, but I'd really love it if you did. If you want, check out my other stuff, and I hope you like this!</p><p>Edit 1/9/21: I got a tumblr! http://alligator-writes.tumblr.com/</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They’ve been dating for three months, one week, and five days (not that Sokka’s been counting) the first time he asks if he can do Zuko’s makeup for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, he knows his boyfriend is a makeup artist and is perfectly capable of doing his own makeup. He wears it every day, and always looks absolutely gorgeous. But Sokka thinks of it as a bonding thing. It’ll be fun, he reasons.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko, washing the dishes, freezes mid-scrub, and his entire body tenses. The definition would have been hot as hell if it wasn’t so concerning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a moment, he relaxes slightly and firmly says, “No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Sokka, who’s had an insatiable curiosity since he could talk, knows that this is a time to keep his mouth shut despite the questions swirling around in his brain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He waits a while before he asks again. It’s not his fault he can’t let it go. It’s one of </span>
  <em>
    <span>those ideas</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the ones that don’t leave his brain for months at a time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>(“Hyperfixations, Sokka,” Katara’s voice says from inside his head. “That’s an ADHD thing.”)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He asks when they’re five months, three weeks, and three days in. (He can admit to counting now.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’re laying down on the couch, Sokka’s head in Zuko’s lap. Zuko runs his hands through Sokka’s loose hair. The hand freezes again when Sokka asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want you touching my face,” Zuko says softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Sokka can understand that. He’d have to be an idiot to not notice that his boyfriend doesn’t see well, if at all, out of his left eye. Or that he doesn’t hear well on his left side either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or that the skin around his eye, down to his cheek and into his hairline and covering his ear, is a little </span>
  <em>
    <span>off</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s reasonable, so Sokka lets it go with a quiet, “Ok.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eight months and five days in, and the idea is back. It really isn’t Sokka’s fault. His stupid brain keeps giving him the urge to say something, and he eventually can’t resist it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(“Impulsivity. Another ADHD thing. Get screened.” “Shut up, Mini Katara.”)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko is folding laundry, and Sokka is perched on the empty dryer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I do your makeup?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko scoffs quietly. Sokka takes that as a good sign.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine, but I do the base. Foundation and all that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka should take what he can get, but he doesn’t. “I kinda wanted to do it all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko puts the pair of pants in his hands down and looks directly at Sokka.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t want to see me bare face.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, that makes Sokka stop. He’s dated his boyfriend for eight months and five days, and he hasn’t even seen him without makeup?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It shouldn’t matter, but it does a little bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve never seen you bare face?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That </span>
  </em>
  <span>is what makes Zuko freeze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, you haven’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka tries to be playful. “Come on, you can’t be that hideous. Besides, I love you for more than just your looks, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He takes it as a victory when Zuko cracks a small smile, but it quickly disappears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For real though, Sokka. It’s not that pretty either,” Zuko sighs heavily. “I have a scar on my face. It’s big. Without the makeup, it’s the only thing you see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka knows that something’s there, but if Zuko thinks he can’t see it, it’s best not to mention it. “It can’t be that bad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is, in fact, that bad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you not want to do this?” Sokka asks gently. “This is up to you, it’s just me being dumb when I keep asking and can’t take no for an answer-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I’m actually ok with doing this.” He hands Sokka the laundry, “Carry this to my room. I’m gonna get ready in the bathroom.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka hops down from on top of the dryer, accepts the pile, and puts it away in record time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sits on the bed, kicking his feet like a little kid because he’s unable to keep still.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know if I warned you enough,” Zuko calls out from the bathroom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka calls back, “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko walks into the room, not even trying to hide his face. Sokka knows faux bravery when he sees it, and Zuko’s body language is practically screaming it to the sky.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Sokka tries to keep from staring at the scar but </span>
  <em>
    <span>spirits</span>
  </em>
  <span>… </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s a burn scar. That’s the only explanation for how red it is, just above and to the right of rust. It takes up the upper left quarter of Zuko’s face, covering his eye and wrapping around to cover his ear, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, that explains the texture he noticed back a few months ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It looks like an iron but he can’t really be sure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s no wonder Zuko can’t see out of that eye. Spirits, what the everloving fuck happened?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you it was that bad.” Zuko sits on the bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka doesn’t think they’re going to do makeup today.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened?” he asks without thinking, and immediately curses himself for doing so. That’s invasive as hell and if Katara were here, she’d elbow him in the ribs and tell him to be polite.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Katara would probably know what to do in this situation. It kinda sucks that Zuko is stuck with Sokka, who is way out of his depth with shit like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko takes a deep breath in and sits on his trembling hands. “So, you know how I only go by my first name, at least publicly?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I figured it was to keep some degree of privacy. Your last name is Sozin, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko nods. “It is. But the privacy thing is probably not what you’re thinking. Do you know who Ozai Sozin is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The fossil fuel guy? Went to jail for unethical business practices?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko nods again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka feels the puzzle pieces click inside his own head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re his son? That sucks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko lets out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, it really did.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Past tense, Sokka notices. Interesting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wait.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you saying that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>did this to you? Fucking hell,” Sokka stands up and starts pacing and swearing. It probably doesn’t help the situation, but it’s all he can do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Who the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> does this to their own kid?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he did,” Zuko says bluntly. “I realized he was going to drill for oil near this fishing town. I disagreed with endangering these people’s lives, then I threatened to expose him for all the other shit he’s pulled. I told him I was gonna go to a protest against his company. The media would’ve ate that shit right up. The iron was on. He grabbed it and held it against my face.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For once, Sokka is stunned into silence. Like all the other times, it doesn’t last long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit, that’s so fucked up. That’s so fucked up. You know that, right? You know how fucked up that is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fact that he didn’t at one point damn near breaks Sokka’s heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Zuko keeps talking. “Anyway, he threw me out of the house after that. My uncle took me in, raised me from there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raised him? “How old were you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko makes eye contact with him. “Thirteen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thirteen?! Oh my mcfucking shit. You were thirteen?” Sokka can’t wrap his head around it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Thirteen</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He can’t imagine his own dad hurting him now, nevermind as a little kid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your father is a fucking monster.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko cracks a smile. “I know. For a while, everyone knew but me. And my sister.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s something he hasn’t said before. “Sister?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Azula. She’s two years younger than me. Ozai never hit her or anything like he did me, but he fucked with her head a whole bunch. Last I actually saw her, she was in a psych facility. Voluntarily admitted. Last I heard from her, she was released. She has a girlfriend now and is pretty happy. We’ve both agreed it’s for the best that we don’t see each other too often. Ozai pitted us against each other when we were growing up. We’re nothing but bad memories for each other.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka can’t imagine going a day without talking to Katara, nevermind multiple years. Yeah, they fight a lot, but that’s normal. Siblings are supposed to fight. They’re supposed to love each other. They’re supposed to stay in touch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Sokka realizes that Zuko didn’t have normal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, he hit you, too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko looks at him like he’s an idiot. “You don’t go from being a wonderful father to branding your son’s face without some steps in the middle.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka feels stupid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko keeps talking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So I showed up at my uncle’s with a third degree burn and a ton of issues. He could have turned me away. He could have lost his patience with me. But he didn’t. Even when I threw dramatic ass temper tantrums and threatened to walk out or insulted him to his face, he stayed by me, and that’s all I needed. He was the one who got me into makeup, actually, despite not knowing anything about it himself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko’s voice softens when he talks about his uncle. Sokka has never heard anything like it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. He saw how self conscious I was about this,” Zuko waves his hand in front of his face, “and suggested that I cover it with makeup. I laughed him off at first because I thought it was girls’ stuff, but eventually, I tried it, and even though I was shit at it when I started out, it helped a lot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka remembers the day he got Zuko’s number. “So when you said you understood about the toxic masculinity…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I really meant it,” Zuko finishes. “It’s such a bitch.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka laughs for the first time since they began this conversation. “It really is.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A comfortable silence settles over them. Of course, Sokka breaks it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for telling me all of this,” he whispers because this feels like a whisper moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko lays down on the bed with a flop. “Yeah, well, you made me feel comfortable enough to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To be completely honest, I thought you were gonna cry or something. Not that that’s a bad thing!” Sokka adds hurriedly. “I’m just not very good at dealing with that sort of thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You would have called Katara.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would have called Katara,” Sokka confirms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka lays down on the bed too. They stare at the ceiling for a little while.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you still want to do my makeup?” Zuko asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t sound hesitant or scared, so Sokka seizes the chance. He gets up and goes to the bathroom. Thank the spirits that Zuko organized the space because Sokka wouldn’t have been able to find anything otherwise. He grabs Zuko’s makeup bag and brings it back to the bedroom, because Zuko’s shitty little apartment bathroom isn’t big enough to fit two well built guys.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gets back, and Zuko is sitting up on the bed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the first time since Katara and Suki taught him, Sokka doesn’t really know where to start.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you I should do my foundation,” Zuko jokes as he opens the makeup bag and takes it out. He squeezes a little on to a beauty blender, but Sokka stops him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I please?” he says softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko looks at him, stunned, but he nods yes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka takes the sponge out of Zuko’s hand and starts on the right side of his face. That, he knows how to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he’s done with everything but the scar, Zuko starts talking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t really feel anything there, so don’t be afraid to dab it on like usual. The texture is gonna be a little weird, but I promise it’s fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko’s voice and Sokka’s hand shakes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you get it to look smooth?” Damn, Sokka really is going at it with the stupid invasive questions today.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t, actually. It’s just a shit ton of color correcter,” he passes the bottle to Sokka. When did he grab it? “And for big events, like cons and stuff, I use latex. But most of the time, the texture is still there. I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka mixes the color corrector into the foundation. “No, I did. Shit, sorry that was blunt. I just didn’t mention it because I didn’t think you wanted me to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I should have guessed that. You’re perceptive about fifty percent of the time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aw, give me at least seventy five when it comes to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko laughs, “Fine. Seventy five percent. Add more, by the way.” He gestures to the color corrector in Sokka’s hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka adds more and finishes mixing it on the beauty blender. He holds it up, right above where Zuko’s eyebrow would be if it weren’t for his </span>
  <em>
    <span>fucking monster piece of shit-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko closes his eyes. Sokka takes a deep breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s nothing special. The foundation goes on a little rougher than Sokka is used to, but he expected that. Zuko doesn’t say anything, so he must be doing something right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he’s done, it blends in pretty well with the rest of his face. Not seamlessly, because the different ridges are still visible, but well enough that the majority of the redness is gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spirits, his boyfriend is a fucking wizard. How long did it take him to figure out how to hide that?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka does the rest of his face like normal: concealer, bronzer, highlighter, blush, powder, and all that jazz.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He lines and paints his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The only sound in the room is the two of them breathing and Sokka’s soft instructions when he needs Zuko to move his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tilt right.” “Tilt up.” “Open your mouth.” “Rub your lips together.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He saves his eyes for last on purpose. Zuko notices.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about getting it symmetrical the first time. It took me forever to do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka is an engineering major. He decides he’ll make it symmetrical.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eyeshadow is pretty normal. Zuko’s left eyelid doesn’t open as much as his right, but it closes about the same. Eyeliner is fine. Sokka doesn’t do his waterline. It’s a pain in the ass to do on himself, and he’ll definitely fuck it up on someone else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko has at least five sets of false eyelashes in that bag. Sokka is sure he’s seen at least three more pairs around their apartment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His right eye is easy. His left eye doesn’t have any eyelashes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka feels a pang in his stomach at that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko notices. He always does.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just stick it to the top of my eyelid. Don’t worry about poking me in the eye. I can’t see out of it anyway.” He says it lightheartedly, but it really only makes Sokka feel worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It shouldn’t though. It’s not him making a joke and being cruel. It’s Zuko being self-deprecating about his own trauma, something he’s allowed to do and something Sokka does to himself all the time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Sokka has been way too empathetic for his own good all his life. He can’t imagine what it felt like, or how Zuko must feel, but if Sokka feels like this just hearing about it… </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko is one of the strongest people he knows. Not because of that shit, but in spite of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka puts on the lashes and steps back. He knows he forgot mascara, but he doesn’t care. Zuko looks gorgeous without it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All done,” he says, handing Zuko the mirror.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko takes it, smirking, but his face falls into confusion as he looks at himself. “I’ve done this look before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have,” Sokka says, nodding. “It’s how you looked the day we met.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko’s jaw drops. Sokka’s rendered him speechless. Damn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow,” he breathes, tilting his head from side to side to examine it. “It’s different from how I would’ve done it, but also… the same?” He lets out a small chuckle. “And you got my eyes symmetrical.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, geometry is my favorite math class.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko punches him in the arm for the stupid joke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sokka gets serious. “That look has always stuck in my head. It’s what made me realize, for the first time, that you were gorgeous. And even though you’ve only gotten more gorgeous since we’ve dated, that’s how I always see you. Golden.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko puts down the mirror and all but tackles Sokka in a kiss. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” he repeats, over and over and over again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re gonna ruin your lipstick. I didn’t use the kiss-proof stuff.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zuko shuts him up with another kiss, and in that moment, Sokka doesn’t want to be anywhere else.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments and kudos make me super happy!</p><p>I want to write more things in this AU, so if anyone has any ideas, drop them in the comments.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
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